I don't know about Sirius red but Sirius, a blue star, is the brightest
star in the
northern hemisphere and is in the constellation Cainus Major just below
and to the east of Orion.  Sirius is the Dog Star.  The ancients used it
to time the rise of the Nile River and other such events.  The rising
sometime in late summer marks the Dog Days of Summer.  

John Carroll Dennis
Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology
109 Greene Hall
Auburn University, AL  36849